Public Health Measures that Impact Child Development: Mental Health of Mothers, Fathers, and Families

Children develop based on their life experiences. Their brains process information, learn lessons, and connect memory to language to emotion. Babies seek and receive attention, and each of these experiences strengthens or weakens the connections in the brain (Berger, 2016). This week I chose to look at mental health as it is experience driven and a personal issue close to my heart as well as my own child’s development.

It was not until I was an adult that I found out my grandmother was diagnosed with bi polar disorder. She was always just a little different, but we just chalked that up to the hardships she faced from poverty and a “tough” marriage. Turns out both my grandmother and father struggled with mental health issues. Growing up with this type of father meant you just never knew what mood he may be in. There were days we were off and running, going quickly from activity to activity. Other days he would be sullen and as children we would serve as his cheer section. At the time, however, mental health was seen as a weakness, something we can pray our way through, not something to be discussed with the doctor. So, one the outside, we portrayed happy and healthy in every way, and any issues were dealt with in house.

When I had my own children, I swore we would provide a more truly healthy situation for them, only to experience long lasting postpartum depression, and then a child up with anxiety and depression. After this week’s readings I have begun to go back and wonder as to how much my choices based on my state of mind made an lasting impact on my daughter’s brain, and how those choices my parents made are part of the way my brain works. Did the overabundance of stress hormone because of a struggle to breastfeed correctly combined with the stresses of transitioning to a stay at home mom with a toddler so dramatically change the neurological makeup of my daughter’s brain that she ended up in therapy? How much of her development is placed on my responsiveness, and how much is genetically inherited from her father who also has anxiety and depression? A study in Colorado looked into this issue directly, and found that children were more likely to have anxiety and depression when a parent also has a diagnosed diagnosis (Keeney, December 2016). When a child is healthy at birth and continues to be in generally good health the first two years, many doctors don’t ask questions in reference to the parent’s mental health beyond the first few days after birth. However, issues with responsiveness and stress also don’t show up until much later.

In Japan, mental health of parents and children is taken seriously, and the government launched a new program recently to help address those issues. The program, Sukoyaka Family 21, is an effort to increase education about health care to teens, birth babies in a safe and nurturing environment, make changes to better provide health care for children, and finding ways to increase confidence in raising children (Fujisaki, 2003). Through better support and education of the mother, this program hopes to increase children’s mental health through focus on their caregivers. However, there are issues with caregiver mental health where Japan continues to struggle. Research shows one such area is stigma (Andro, Yamaguchi, Aoki, Thornicroft, 2013). People who have a mental health issue may be more likely to be seen as inferior, weak, and to be avoided. This idea of just avoiding people does nothing to promote that all important support network so necessary for building capable children. The research builds on the 21 agreement that education is key, but also acceptance and interaction are necessary to truly support children through investment in the mental health of their care givers.

Moving forward in my teaching, I believe having an increased knowledge of the mental health issues surrounding parenting and brain development will lead me to pay closer attention at parent-teacher conferences, especially asking more background questions when a student is struggling. This knowledge gives me more to think about with regard to responsiveness in the classroom, as well as how plasticity is limited by that background and its role in neuro connectedness.

References:

Ando, S., Yamaguchi, S., Aoki, Y, Thorncraft, G (2013).  Review of Mental- of mental-health-rlated stigma in Japan.,http://www.med.or.jp/english/pdf/2003_10/452_459.pdf

Berger, K. S. (2016). The developing person through childhood (7th ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.

Fujisaki, K. (2003, October). Measures taken by the government for improving mental health of children.  Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/pcn.12086/full.

Keeney, T. (2016, December). The link between parent and child mental health in colorado. Retrieved from https://www.coloradohealthinstitute.org